Lectures from Hogwarts School of Espionage
by rvb
Summary: Not a story per-se. Just a series of one-shot lectures that I imagine might be taught at a magical school of espionage.
1. Magical Oaths

A/N: not mine.

Overview: This "story" is going to be a series of one-shots, consisting of lectures from "Hogwarts School of Espionage". Here, Hogwarts (and Drumstang, and ...) are elite magical universities that teach skills useful for espionage and other special interest (*cough* criminal *cough*) groups.

Originally, I was trying to wrap a story around these lectures, but I got stuck on the plot, and character development, etc. Anyways, since my interest was always in the details of magic, not the story, I decided to just post the lectures. I'll use HP characters, but I don't expect to have any sort of story-line.

I will miss my idea of Longbottom being Snape's favorite student due to Neville's ability to make any potion explode.

* * *

"Good morning class. Please take your seats. I am Headmaster of this auspicious school. I suspect you all know my name, but I prefer to keep with the formalities. My name is Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore. It is my great pleasure to teach this class. In this class we will cover a variety of topics, many of which will not be covered by another class. Any questions? No, then I shall continue.

"Today's lesson is about magical oaths. Magical oaths are used by many people to prove the truth of a statement. These oaths use one's own magic to evaluate the truth of a statement. One's magic will flare slightly at the end of making such an oath, proving a small light show.

"Unfortunately magical oaths are of dubious value. For example," Dumbledore raised his wand, "I, Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore, swear upon my life and magic, that one plus one equals ten. So mote it be." A flash of light, typically seen with magical oaths, from the wand briefly illuminated the room.

Dumbledore then conjured himself a glass of water, and took a sip. "As you can see, I'm still alive, and am still magical. Can anyone please explain this to the class?"

Hermione answered, "I suspect you simply said the words and then wordless cast a brief spell, similar to lumos, to cause the flash of light."

She was reward with a broad smile. "Correct! Two points. Now for my next example, I will make an actual oath, although I have no way of proving it to you. You'll simply have to take my word for it." Wand raised again, "I, Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore, swear upon my life and magic, that one plus one equals ten. So mote it be." This time he conjured a calabash pipe, and took a few a few puffs before vanishing it. "Now, who can tell me why I am still here to bore you with these trivialities?" A few chuckles.

"No guesses? Then allow me elucidate you. The magical oath is based on intention. In this particular example, my intention was to tell you that when using the binary representation of numbers, the result of one plus one is represented by the symbols typically read as "ten" by most people. Now in this example, I my intention was still a true statement. This is not a requirement. It is possible that your intention is completely opposite or unrelated to the words that you say. I shall not demonstrate this because it is more difficult and I hope that such a demonstration is not required for you to believe me. Although, I suppose I could make a magical oath stating it is possible." He laughed at his own joke.

"Now, who can tell me the relevance of having to cast a spell to prove that I still have my magic?"

Harry answered, "Because the flash of light only indicates that a magical oath has been made, but not the result of such an oath. The same light flashes if you tell the truth or if you lie."

"Correct! Two points! Now, how can you use this fact to make a magical oath that is completely false?"

Harry answered by taking his wand, and saying "I, Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore, swear upon my life and magic, that one plus one equals eleven." The standard flash occurred, and Harry conjured his own glass of water.

"Wonderful! As shown, if you don't use your own name, the magical oath will not take, as your intention is for someone else. This fact makes it easy for people in our esteemed profession to swear any magical oaths required. The trick with these oaths is that your intention has to be conditional on the first claim of identity. Then, since that claim is false, then the magic can ignore the rest of the statement which includes your presumably false claim and the punishment.

"These types of oaths are very convenient for people in disguises, and allow them to make any oaths that they want. However, there is a danger. If you are in deep cover, you can come to adopt this additional identity. Adopting an identity can help you act the role you have chosen, but can also lead to problems where a true oath under the name of the false identity take affect.

"This also illuminates another possible way to falsify oaths. It is possible for you to start the magical oath at any point in your statement. This allows you to make an oath such as "I, Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore, on pain of my life and magic, promise that all statements until I finish this oath are true. Bicycles are very useful for fish. So mote it be." A flash of magic. "Here, I didn't actually apply my magic until I started making my statement. Since the magical part of the oath didn't specify any punishments for making false claims, there were no effects of the oath. Properly used, this can be quite convincing if you first specify a false claim that can't be verified, and then include an easily verified claim under the true magical oath.

"There is one more way to defeat a magical oath, although I don't recommend it, as it is, shall we say, difficult. However, since it is your own magic that enforces the oath, it is possible to fight it off. As I said, I don't recommend it, but to practice this, you can make a magical oath with a harmless punishment, such as 'I swear that X is true, or my fingernails will grow two centimeters.' Please note that the heavier the punishment, the harder it is to fight off.

"Any questions yet? Yes?"

A lady, Daphne Greengrass asked, "Is there a way to verify what magical oath has been taken?"

"Ah, a very good question. There are some people, such as government officials and Lady Greengrass here, who are untrusting. They don't believe the evidence in-front of their eyes. And well they shouldn't. To answer your question, yes and no. There is a type of magical object called an "oath-orb" that can detect when a magical oath is made in its vicinity. I believe the more expensive models light-up while the oath is being made, rendering the partial-oath method ineffective. I believe there are also several spells which perform the same task.

"The good news is that these methods are not able to verify exactly what the oath was, so oaths made with intentions other than the spoken word will not be caught. Nor will be oaths that are made with a false identity. The bad news is that just because I am unaware of magical means to verify the details of a magical oath doesn't mean that such methods don't exist. I believe that my personal motto applies here: my ignorance doesn't make it impossible.

"Are there any more questions? No? Good. If you think of any later, please feel free to meet me later and I will attempt to address them.

"There are two further weaknesses of magical oaths. The first weakness is that of memory. For example, you could commit a crime, and have the memory removed, either willingly into a pensive, or via an obliviate spell. Once your memory of the event is gone, you can make an oath, or for that matter, testify under veritasium, that you did not commit that crime. You can even have the memory restored later, and suffer no ill from the oath. This is because the oath is only checked at the time that the oath is made. I should warn you that memory charms that hide memories may or may not be sufficient to circumvent an oath in this manner. It depends on both the spell, the skill of the caster, and the memories involved.

"The second weakness is related. You can make any forward looking statements,  
that you wish. You can make a true magic oath with appropriate intent, once the oath is finished, you may change your intent freely. A word of warning: you may run into problems if, while making the oath, you intend to change your intent. That is, your oath at the time has to be genuine.

"Well, I believe that is enough of my rambling for now. I'll be available for the next hour if you have any questions. Class dismissed."

-  
A/N: the oblivate idea came from LessWrong's HP Methods of Rationality.


	2. Combat: Motiviation and Training

Moody growled out, "Welcome to combat class. In this class I'll teach you how to fight. Now who can tell me what is the most important requirement to succeed in a fight?"

A student called out "Casting speed?" "Knowing the most spells?" "The will to win?" "Better physical shape?"

"WRONG! The most important requirement that you absolutely must know before going into a fight is to know exactly what you want to get from the fight. If you don't know what you want from a fight, why are you bothering?

"Who starts a fight, the aggressor or the defender?"

Someone scoffed, "The aggressor of course."

"Wrong again. Your arrogance just you five points. A fight is started by the defender. It takes two sides to fight. An aggressor can't fight if there is no-one to fight against. Until the defender chooses to defend themselves, an aggressor is just being violent.

"Now, who can tell me what are good goals for an aggressor?"

"To kill a target?" "No. If you need to kill the guy, assassinate him. You've fucked up if you end up in a fight with him. Try again."

"To capture a target?" "Then why are you potentially starting a fight where your target may get killed or escape in the confusion? Kidnap the target. Make sure you have a plan that minimizes the chance of fighting. Try again?"

"To acquire a piece of information?" "Steal it. Try again."

"To free a prisoner?" "Again, kidnap him out of his cell, or just assassinate the guards. Try again."

Finally, Harry stated, "When all other options have a lower chance of successfully accomplishing your primary goals."

Moody stared at Harry for a few seconds. "Well put. 5 points. That's right. Fighting is bad. Its rare that becoming an aggressor is advisable. Only when everything else has gone pear-shaped.

"Now, who can tell me what are good goals for a defender?"

Laughing, someone called out "to survive."

"That'll cost you a point. Were you not listening? As we just said, if an aggressor wants to kill you, the best way is to assassinate you. Not to start a fight. If your only goal is to survive, you're better off retreating, or if that's not possible, then surrendering. Try again."

"To kill the aggressor?" "Is that a question or an answer? One point for an acceptable reason, and you lose one point for not knowing if you're coming or going. Any more reasons?"

"To protect a person, or an item." "Good. Two points. As soon as you have to defend a person or item, combat becomes a lot more difficult. You have to keep track of them. You can't just dodge spells. This is one of the differences between fighting and dueling. Further, it may be that the goal of defending the person or item is of higher importance that your life. You may scoff at this, but never forget that. For example, most people would gladly die for their children. Other reasons?"

Hermione answered, "To gain knowledge." "Correct, one point. Tell me, what knowledge can you learn while fighting?"

"You can estimate your opponents skill level. You can potentially figure out their goals, either by their actions, or if they're particularly stupid, by talking with them."

"Good. One more point. Trying to talk with your opponent is not something I recommend. It's a double sided sword - you can easily provide as much information as you gain. Further, its easy to get distracted and killed or to miss a killing opportunity. More reasons?"

Harry answered this time, "Practice." Moody laughed. "While that's an acceptable goal while at school, I strongly recommend against it in the field. More reasons?

"No? Fine. We've covered the basics reasons. Remember, once combat has begun, you can no longer control all of the variables. I'm sure you've heard the phrase 'No plan survives contact with the enemy.' Its true. What does that mean? It means that if you find yourself in a combat situation, you've fucked up.

"So, if combat is such a bad idea, why do we bother teaching it?"

The same person repeated his earlier claim, "To survive".

"Incomplete, but true. One point. Why else?"

Harry answered, "To be able to provide the threat of force. Without the thread of force, you can't enforce your claims."

"Good. Three points. Society survives on the thread of force. Society likes to pretend that dialog and talking can solve all the problems, but in the end, force is always used for compliance. That's why in most muggle societies, only the police are allowed to be armed. Of course, in magical societies, everyone with a wand is armed and dangerous.

"Okay then. Onto practical matters. There is a schedule posted on the announcement board. You will meet with the school mediwitch and plan the potion regiment needed to bring you into peak physical health. Who can tell me why we are bothering to improve your body when magic can be used to make any of these improvements when needed?"

Harry answered "You might not have time to apply the spells before they are needed." "Correct. One point. Any other reasons?"

Hermione spoke "magic improvements can be canceled." "Correct. One point. You don't want to rely on magical effects that can be canceled at inopportune moments. Doing so cost me my leg. That's not to say magical improvements have no place - just don't rely on them. Any other reasons?"

Another student answered "Familiarity. It would easy to accidentally hurt someone if you don't know your own strength." "Good, one point. That covers the main reasons to not use magical improvements.

"The improvements that your potion regime will make are simply fueled by magic. The improvements are to your natural body, and can't simply be dispelled. But of course, just because these are natural improvements, that doesn't mean that the improvements are restricted by your natural body. Now, what type of improvements can you make?"

Different students called out answers, "Strength", "Hearing", "Speed", "Height", "Reaction time", "Stamina". "Reach", "Tougher skin", "Sensitivity", "Improved eye sight", "Smell", "Hearing".

"All of those are good answers. one point each. There are many ways you can improve yourself. The library has several books which discus the different improvements you can get. Like all things, there are usually trade-offs. You can improve your stamina so that you can run longer, but that will limit how much force your muscles can apply. Some of these trade-offs are simple biological limitations, no way around them. Other limitations are more ... flexible.

A warning: some improvements can end up hurting you. For example, an improved sense of hearing can allow you to hear people quietly muttering to themselves. But it will also improve your hearing when you don't want it. I know a guy who improved his hearing. Had trouble sleeping - too many noises during the night. Almost went crazy before he started to constantly apply silencing magic. Still, he ended up deaf due to an unexpected explosion when he was trying to to use his improved ears. Hearing is one of those improvements that I would recommend using magic to improve only when you need it. If you have any questions or want advice, feel free to schedule a meeting.

"Now, who can tell me the nice thing about using potions instead of muggle exercise?"

Harry quickly answered, "Potions are a lot faster. It would take years of muggle training to get into peak physical condition. There are also more limited to what can be improved."

"Correct, one point. Now, is there any drawbacks?"

Hermione smugly replied, "You won't be familiar with your body. You won't know what your limits are."

"Good. One point. Minus one point for attitude. But, that is why, in about two weeks we will begin one month of aggressive muggle physical training. If you've heard the term "boot camp", you'll have an idea of what to expect. I will work you to the bone, and at the end, you'll know exactly what your new and improved body can handle. You'll know how far and how long you can run without getting tired. You'll know how long you hold your arm up to cast spells. You'll know how high you can jump. You'll know how hard you can hit. If I do my job right, each and every one of you will hate me. And that will give me great pleasure. Class dismissed.


End file.
